Chapter 94

He was glad he had recalled the knights stationed in the snowy plains to the castle earlier.

Staying in a place like this could lead to being affected by the sorcery.

Kaien moved closer to the center of the snowy plains.

Just then, while he was examining the area where Harnen had been attacked recently, a commotion broke out.

“It’s a monster!”

At Dale’s shout, Kaien immediately headed in the direction of the sound.

“There are two of them, and Kay is with them!”

It was Nadia and Winston’s group.

As soon as Kaien arrived at the snowy plains and an incident occurred, he muttered a curse under his breath and increased his speed, surrounding his feet with aura.

“Dale, gather the other knights and prepare to return!”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

Knowing Kaien’s abilities, Dale did not follow him and immediately turned to carry out the order.

“Ahhh!”

Kaien quickly arrived at the scene where the sharp scream had erupted. Nadia was crouching down, and Winston was clutching his injured arm.

There were three knights, including Kay, but Kaien did not hesitate. He immediately wrapped his sword in aura and struck the ground.

“Duck!”

As Winston urgently bent down, Kaien swung his sword at the large arm of the monster that was coming down.

Kieeeek!

As the monster was unable to strike its prey, it seemed angry and stomped its feet.

With each stomp, the ground trembled violently, creating tremendous vibrations.

The monster had a very low intelligence, so even if it had a target in mind, it would only charge at those who attacked it.

So Kaien was now waiting for the moment to decapitate the monster.

However, strangely, the monster charged not at Kaien but at Winston, who was its original prey.

Kaien, who was about to attack the monster, quickly realized that the direction had changed.

‘It’s not Winston.’

“Hurry, hurry and kill it! Come this way!”

“Kugh, Nadia! Have you forgotten that you’re a saint? Didn’t you eliminate the monster last time!”

‘Nadia.’

The monster was targeting Nadia.

The strange thing was that it didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking her.

Typically, monsters use their long, sharp teeth when attacking. They open their mouths wide when charging at a person. However, the monster running toward Nadia didn’t open its mouth; it looked as if it was rushing home in a panic.

Winston shouted again as he saw the monster approaching Nadia.

“Nadia! Use your holy power!”

Nadia was in a panic.

She hadn’t seen a monster this close before. Just yesterday, she could barely make out its shape from a distance.

Nadia hadn’t realized how large and terrifying the monster was. So, when the monster appeared, she froze, unable to run away.

“Nadia!”

At Winston’s shout, Nadia squeezed her eyes shut and reached out her hand toward the monster.

Then she felt her strength draining away as a gray light enveloped the monster.

Kieeeek!!

The monster screamed, extending its hand toward Nadia until it disappeared without a trace.

Kaien couldn’t take his eyes off the sight of the monster turning to ash and vanishing under Nadia’s holy power.

However, since another one was still remaining, Kaien quickly turned his body and struck down the neck of the monster that the knights were facing.

That monster also fell as it tried to break away from the knights and charge at Nadia.

“Take care of the bodies.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

While the knights gathered the monster’s corpses, Kaien asked Kay.

“What on earth happened?”

“Two monsters suddenly awakened while we were exploring the snowy plains.”

“Suddenly? Without any warning? It doesn’t matter if it’s not special behavior; explain it in detail.”

Kay paused for a moment in thought but eventually shook his head.

The idea that the monsters had awakened for no reason complicated Kaien’s mind.

“Your Grace, we’re ready. We can return to the castle immediately.”

Dale approached, leading the others.

“Let’s return to the castle for now.”

At Kaien’s words, Winston, who had been given basic first aid, and Nadia, still shaken, barely managed to mount their horses.

“Let’s increase the speed. The monsters might awaken suddenly again, so stay alert in the rear!”

With that, Kaien urged the horses onward and sent out a reconnaissance team to survey the snowy plains as soon as they arrived at the castle.

“Oh my, Your Highness, Saint!”

Hearing the horn, Johannes rushed over in shock upon seeing the disheveled pair.

“Is there a doctor here? No chief physician?! Yes?!”

“It’s not a serious injury, so stop making a fuss.”

Kaien frowned at the loudly shouting Johannes.

“I’ll give you a first aid kit; handle it with that. Gio, give them the first aid kit.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Is that all, Your Grace?”

Kaien left Johannes behind and went straight to Theodore’s office to explain what had happened.

“For no reason at all?”

“Yes. There really is no reason.”

Theodore also found this the most puzzling.

“Investigating further won’t yield anything more.”

“Kaien, how is the Third Prince?”

Natasha recalled Johannes’s loud voice from just a moment ago. From Johannes’s reaction, it seemed like a serious injury, yet Kaien appeared completely calm.

“Ah.”

Only then did Kaien remember Winston’s injury and casually add,

“It’s an injury that will heal with a day or two of rest. The priest is making a fuss.”

“Is the Saint unharmed?”

Kaien, who hadn’t checked on Nadia, hesitated before answering.

“She should be fine. If she were injured, she wouldn’t be quiet right now.”

“Indeed, the priest would have been twice as loud.”

“By the way, where is Philome?”

“She should be in the greenhouse.”

At that, Kaien left Theodore’s office and headed for the greenhouse. Then he suddenly realized that there was monster blood splattered on his clothes and took off his outer garment, throwing it to Gio.

As he opened the door to the greenhouse, a completely different hot air enveloped him.

Kaien quickly spotted the person he was looking for.

Just as he was about to call out her name, he noticed Philome grunting as she worked on something diligently, so he quietly approached her.

“You shouldn’t be doing it like this.”

“The potatoes you peel are all bruised. You have to do it this way to avoid bruising them.”

“That’s way too slow. While I peeled five, you only peeled one. And it didn’t get hurt much, right? It just has a scratch.”

“Tsk, let’s ask Liazell! Hey, kid, who peeled better, me or the boss?”

They were huddled together in the potato field.

Harnen held out two potatoes to Liazel.

As she rolled her eyes watching them bicker, Liazell noticed Kaien behind them.

“Uncle!”

“The Duke peeled the potatoes best?”

Harnen turned his head in surprise.

Philome also stood up at Liazell’s words and soon faced Kaien.

“Duke! When did you arrive?”

“Just now. What were you doing?”

As Kaien reached out, Philome awkwardly smiled and stepped back.

“I was peeling potatoes. You’ll get your clothes dirty from the dirt.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Kaien smiled, pulled Philome into a hug, and briefly kissed her warm cheek from the greenhouse heat.

“Did you do well?”

“Yes, we got a lot. Liazell worked really hard, right?”

Philome added that Liazell filled half of the basket.

To lend credibility to her words, Liazell looked like a mess. Her hair, tied in pigtails, was all disheveled, and her face and clothes were covered in dirt.

“Impressive.”

After patting Liazell’s head, Kaien turned to Harnen, whom he hadn’t seen in a few days.

“By the way, have you gone through all the records? I thought you wouldn’t come out until you found what you wanted.”

Harnen scratched his head with an awkward smile.

“I didn’t see everything.”

“I thought you might end up with mold on your body, so he dragged you out.”

Philome clicked her tongue as she looked up and down at Harnen, who had lost weight and looked terrible after a few days.

“Ah, Duke, you returned safely, didn’t you?”

Kaien recalled that Winston had been injured, but since he himself was unharmed, he nodded.

After all, it was clear that Philome had no particular interest in Winston’s injury.